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Life Less Complicated - Discovering Freedom and Adventure in Everyday Life · #BeMoreLobster

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Hi there and welcome back to the Seeking Simplicity podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_03: In this episode, we've got a cracking conversation with my dear friend Nikki.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: We dive into an intriguing discussion about what it means to seek simplicity for her.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: And Nikki actually shares her thoughts on how this journey for her isn't about doing less, but about finding peace and adventure through being mindful about where we spend our energy.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: She shares with us an interesting perspective on embracing the journey, touching on how letting go of emotional outcomes can lead to a more peaceful life, as well as conversations around travelling, the fun of connecting with new people, and how everyday challenges can actually be mini adventures.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: I warn you at some point our conversation gets a little bit more real as we talk about why it's important to think about what really matters in life.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_03: And then Nikki offers us some insightful tips on making life a little bit more manageable, even if it means taking things one step at a time.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: So kick back for an episode that is packed with real talk, great stories, and a few laughs.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: And whether you are looking to simplify your daily routine or plan your next big adventure, Nikki's insights might just give you the magic you need.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: Enjoy.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: Nikki, welcome to the Seeking Simplicity Podcast.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for being here.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_03: No problem.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_03: So let's dive right in, as I do with every person that I speak with, and ask you that first question about what does seeking simplicity mean to you?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So when I think about that, it's got like lots of pieces that end up in peaceful, less drama, more adventure.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think when I think of it, it's got like lots of moving parts, so it's it also has momentum.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So even though seeking simplicity like might seem like something that is static, I see it as a very movable momentum thing that has like lots of arms that are moving towards wanting to be in a place where I don't take shit so seriously that I used to worry about.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: I used to worry about I um I'm more intentional about the the the places that I spend my energy and use my energy, and I think all that is moving towards a place of sort of peacefulness and joy and being part of a community with whoever that community might be.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_03: I I what I love about that is it so far it's the first time that someone's brought movement into the process because I think it's it makes sense to some degree that seeking simplicity okay, seeking isn't is an action, but also that I think we can lean into out of just um habit or or just kind of a default that it means less or it means stopping or it means stillness, which for some of us it can mean that, and there are gonna be maybe some parts in your in your momentum that brings you back to that space.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_03: So I love I love that.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: I love how you talk about these different arms.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: What I was curious about when I heard you say, you know, more peaceful, less drama, and more adventure.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_03: Can you tell me about the feelings or the emotions that you that conjures up when you think about those things?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: Because seeking simplicity could also be like a kaleidoscope of emotions that we want to have more of in our life, can't it?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think like if I think about peacefulness, I think about like it's not that there's not challenges, that there's not days where it's hard, but it's there's a feeling of like I don't know that it's like the peace.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's the only description of it.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And in a way that there's not um a rumble of emotions.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's not like it's it's it's maybe it's it's not even control, but it's like there's manageable things, right?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's like there's there's not too much highs and lows of emotions of like they're there.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like you know, in the pandemic, when we would talk, I would talk about feeling all the feels and like but not getting stuck in the feelings.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think part of this idea of peacefulness, the emotions that are there, are all the emotions, but they're not they're not controlling how I respond or react or um to what's around me.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because when when I have when I feel peaceful, the emotion is peace.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Contentment, I don't know if it's not content.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Contentment always feels like a word that people think you're given up, and I I think contentment for me has been a place of I'm okay with that.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_03: And that's in itself is interesting, isn't it?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: Because I've been doing a lot of posts and talking about how um how we define slowing down, maybe even stopping.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_03: And what and I was talking in Book Club the other day about, and I think I talked about it in one of the podcasts as well, how I recognized that one of my I'm gonna call it fear for want of a better word, was of being mediocre.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: And and I was like, I didn't I didn't even know what that word was until we started working with Brendan stuff.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_03: And it took me a while to realize that what I was looking at was that I I saw how my life had changed, and I looked back and I made that mean mean that the life before that, before coaching, was mediocre.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: And um, and so when you sort of said the word contentment, and then followed it by a lot of people kind of define that as giving up.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's important that we understand that we all have these different meanings for words, uh, and also that contentment can create this sense of peacefulness, like you've just been discussing, and it can mean that you can still want to grow, you can still want more things.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, it's it is that it things can be multiple things can be true at once, but um and I want to just you know offer you when you sort of said the peace and then releasing yourself, like you can have all the emotions, but you don't have to live there, you don't have to let them inform how you're gonna act.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: It reminds me of when you spoke to me about um that moment, I think it was last year or the year before, when you heard one of our coaches talk about releasing yourself from the outcome.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you can go and do something, whether that's uh you know, a new job or uh you can put an offer out or whatever that thing is, and you can do it and you can be released emotionally from the outcome.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: Do you want to just talk to that just a little bit?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think for me it was like that shift was I used to put so much story on not doing something because it would mean these things about me or what people thought about me.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, like I didn't offer people my coaching when I could have offered them my coaching, because I was like, Well, they don't have enough money.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I created all the outcomes before they were even there.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's the day that I said, Oh, that doesn't have to be true or might not be true.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was easier to just send an email that told people, I'm doing this.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: You want in?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love that.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, and then I didn't have all the energy spent afterwards going, oh my god, are they gonna what in in and so I think when I released that that also helped with peacefulness, right?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's like that stuff all connected, yeah, and that sort of it clearly seamlessly, you know, ties in with less drama.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, we our obviously the program coaches that we work with often talks about like you know, head drama, and that's where we can get so caught up, isn't it?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: Because we're in it, like you just said, you know, you created outcomes ahead of time only in your head, you had no idea if these things are true, but your brain had said, Oh, we're gonna decide that this is true, and then you kind of work that backwards and it's like, well, I can decide that something else is true instead, right?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I think you know, releasing ourselves from that head drama um and stepping into that place of peace from there, and then the last part that you talked about in those three things you first came out with was more adventure.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: So, this is what I've seen you and Beth do so well these last few years.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I know we'll talk about more of that as we go through because you have been on amazing adventures.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: But I in my head, I'm thinking about you going traveling, which you can share about.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_03: Is there anything else that you define as adventure over just traveling?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think for me it's um adventures are also like in it doesn't have to be traveling to another country, it can be also within the place that I'm in, right?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like adventures with new people that I wouldn't normally have connected with.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's um adventures in I think I feel like sometimes like Beth and I, when we're like thinking about our travel, that determines the adventures we have at home as well, because it's you know the adventures of owning a home and figuring out how you're gonna replace a water heater when just before you're going somewhere, or what would it look like if we were to go on a longer adventure?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: It has all these other mini adventures that we have to take care of here, about like what would happen to our house.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I think adventures to me are also about this planning, the planning part of it.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I'm I could not even like I think Beth and I could plan something and not even ever go on the big adventure, but have still had an adventure getting there.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: The journey, I suppose the journey is part of it.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I think about when we like we we used to run the Chicago Marathon, and like the adventure was gonna be to finish the marathon or get on that space, but the journey was also an adventure because every time, especially the first time we did it, because every distance that we ran over a 10K was a new thing.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've never run this far, I've never run this far.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And like, so and then all the ones after that were sort of an adventure of being able, I've never run it this fast, or I've never run it this way.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so I think there's always in the journey there's adventure to be had, and I think people sometimes miss that because they go from I'm in point A and I'm going to point B.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then they miss all the uh the mini bits in between.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like that's a whole other podcast episode or 10 of them.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: And it's true.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_03: I can I can hold my hands up and say I've been guilty of that so many times in my life.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and because because I feel like for a lot of us, um, we don't maybe it's because we don't term it as an adventure.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm I feel like I've got about 20 things going around in my head at the at the moment, I'm gonna try and kind of just articulate them well.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so if we don't sit, if we could reframe things as an adventure that might be slightly challenging, like the idea of running a marathon to me literally makes me want to vomit.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna lie.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: That you know, you I don't think there's enough money in the world that would make me do that, but you you chose to, like you say, to see adventure, to see to celebrate the little wins, to see how far through that journey, you know, you're improving all the time, and it's we we can only gain the wisdom from the journey.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: We don't get the wisdom from the outcome, you know.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: So, yes, it's a whole it's a whole other episode.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_03: But I think I was just sort of saying there, I think a lot of the reasons that we do that is because we have invested so heavily our emotions in what we think is gonna happen at the outcome.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna be happier, I'm gonna be healthier, I'm gonna be wealthier, I'm gonna, you know, whatever it is, I'm gonna be different from I am now, but I want to get there in the shortest time possible with the least amount of pain.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I think marathon training sums it up to say, like, you're probably not gonna get there without pain, and it's probably gonna take you longer than you think.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_03: So let's just enjoy it.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but coming back to what you sort of how you defined adventures then, and and thank you for using that analogy of the of the marathon.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_03: I remember you something that you were you told me about that you and Beth used to do.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if you've done it for a while, but when you used to kind of recreate the foods that you had eaten in some of the plays that you'd been, and you'd have like these, you know, nights where you would just spend the time in the kitchen and and cooking something up.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_03: And I love that.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: I love how in the last couple of years, another adventure that you two have been on has been with your health.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_03: And you just talking then about recognizing that, oh, you know, we anything like over a 10k, every time we did that, it was something new.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: The things that you shared me with your health journey about, you know, whether you whether you've lifted heavier, whether you've run faster, whether you've tried a different workout, the workouts that you recently did in uh was it Thailand that you were in?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: Crazy workouts.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and and I'm always grateful to to hear those stories because it reminds me of ways that we can seek simplicity in ways that we might not have normally have thought of because it feels like it's emotion, it feels like it might be hard work.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think we might have digressed a little bit there, but I've but I just wanted to offer you that.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I it's thanks for the reminder.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, the food thing is always, I think it's an easy place to connect to I and it's not just journeys, right?
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a also a place to connect to people and it's a place to like can not to people in the past, people in the future.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's funny, when we were away this time, we were talking about hosting um like supper club or not club, but uh a supper meeting with some of our friends, people that are completely not completely different, but like will not have met each other and thinking about like what that would look like, you know, with you know, just chili like something simple, and that people just have to show up, but before they show up, um using something from the book The Gathering is like having questions for them to share with the group so that there's some way that there's a task to it, and I think part of that was also about like having an opportunity for other people to share their like adventures and journeys and be able to talk about it.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then with food, it's like you know, if I make um spicy stir-fried bezel, I'm immediately in Thailand with a fried egg on it and I'm in on a street stand.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it's easy to do.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I think, yeah, what you were saying, it's a good reminder to think about that.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, not super helpful as I'm fasting, but anyway, let's just let's just I know, sorry about that.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh I'm actually salivating right now.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: Oh but I think I want to just touch on um what you said then about the book The Gathering, which I still haven't bought yet, but it was on my list.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um and after you spoke to me about that before, and then I was listening, I think we was in book club, I think we were reading The Charge and we were talking about um, you know, how we how we uh curate our friendship circles, and do we have the friends that we want stroke need?
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I kind of in my head I thought, well, I think there are times in our life where our support friends are not our stretch friends, and vice versa, and sometimes they can be both.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um but on the back of that, we did something very similar where I had some friends around and we had nibbles, and we each bought three questions to ask the other three people.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_03: And the girls absolutely loved it because even though we've known each other more than 10 years, it makes you realise there are so many things that we don't know about each other, and it was such you know, we we all were WhatsApping before the night, before that you know, they came around and they were like, Oh my god, we're all so tired.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, Don't worry, we'll be done by nine, and that we can all go home to bed.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I think they left it like midnight because it just fueled, you know, as you got into these conversations and people were able that they could share and they could feel safe and you could be inspired, and then it just like linked in, you know, that was just something so simple, but so powerful and so rewarding.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I love and you put food in the mix.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm there, I mean, I've got it, but you know, it's the the food is the thing, right?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I liked how you said it's that connection from past and future, you know, how we've always connected round tables, we've always there's that um that uh song you sent me from uh Brandy Carly, wasn't there?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um and the words on that are so incredibly apt.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so, anyways, let's let's dive into a little bit more about one of the reasons that I wanted you on was because one of the things I really love and value about you and uh your wife Beth is that for as long as I've known you, you've talked about traveling.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: And um when COVID hit, and I I think I was getting this right, was Beth ready to retire anyway, or did COVID kind of like force her retirement?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: No, she was ready, she was she had plans to take early retirement before COVID.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: It just happened that that coincided with the last, was probably her last three months of teaching was the like the end of COVID.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: So like oh no, they had another year, I think, of after COVID.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it was it was a plan that she wanted to retire early and then do more of her yoga and breath work, but also to do tutoring and and didn't want to be in a system where she felt she was like like being drained so much that she was like not having the impact that she wanted with young people because of the constraints in education.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it was already planned, but that also was a plan that was connected to what could we do in the future, like what else could we do?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: So we were really intentional about paying off our mortgage, not having any debt when Beth took early retirement, that we were we had to like have we had to change the way we talked about money, um, because there was like we have different um belief systems from our families around money.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so we had to start, we reframed it and called it abundance planning.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the abundance planning was connected also to our want to travel as well.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: So it like I think all these things sort of happened all at the same time.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um I do think like COVID was a real, I think for lots of people, although it was very hard, it was also a reset moment for a lot of people and to think about what was really important to you or your family or the that piece.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's it's it's framed like now, like what we want to do moving forward.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I think that all that planning was connected to my mom and dad, as like we talked about before.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my mom always used to, when she was getting ready to create an adventure for herself or us, would always say, I'm just planting a seed.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to do this, but I'm just planting a seed.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's and I think that's stayed with us.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: So whenever we're thinking about that, it's always about thinking about my mom and uh planting a seed for where we might go, where we might end up.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I think that's not just um in travel, I think that's other things as well.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: So like being able to so with I love the planting seeds, and we make sure we've got we get your Instagram accounts on the bottom of the of the show.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but when you when so going back to that time, I remember you you and I talking quite at length about, you know, uh Beth had kind of done all the finances, and I remember you telling me like we've changed it to abundance planning because it didn't feel good to like budget, like abundance planning felt a lot better.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_03: And there was always that clear you know, for me, what I what I feel my body when you talk about the sit the seeking simplicity around that, it was like you know, you knew what the outcome was in terms of you wanted more time traveling, you wanted more freedom, and all of that, and you were asking your each other, how do we make this happen?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_03: And yes, financially, but you were thinking about your house, you were thinking about you know the longevity of it.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: So I really honoured that part, and I think sometimes it's easy for us to to kind of have an idea of we don't a lot of us know what we don't want, right?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_03: And what we don't want to continue.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_03: We may have an eye an inkling of what we want, but oftentimes, just like you talked about the journey, perhaps we don't sit down and ask the right questions, like the question, how do we make this happen?
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: Because there's a different that that different tone, like, oh my god, how are we gonna make that happen?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: versus how do we make this happen?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_03: What do we need to do?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: How can we support ourselves to create this?
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's a something that I've seen you and best do over and over again, which for me, I can now feel that connection to the peacefulness because you're you're being curious and you're you're generating options.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: Some of them may never you know might not happen, but at least you're creating that space for those things to come along.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I'd love to just talk a little bit more about your all the trips that you've done, and you've done a lot, but I am actually I don't know if I've asked you this question before.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, with your desire to travel, is there like a specific intention behind it?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like, is there a specific desire?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: I'm trying to think of an example, um, or is it a feeling that you want?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like, and so so as an example, it I'm thinking maybe like, are there some places that you wouldn't go because it doesn't give you what you want from traveling?
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe that's a better question, I don't know.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think it's a combination, it's a combination of being curious, and I think it's connected also to places that we feel there's a lot of feelings connected to it that you feel safe, you feel um a little bit out of your comfort zone, but there's a safety factor to it, right?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's um there's curiosity and opportunity to try new things.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's um I think it's also about like there's something about recent travel, which is also about could we live here as we get older?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's also it's all connected to that whole idea of like all these tentacles about um opportunities.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: What what are that there's not one opportunity, there's multiple opportunities, and there's multiple ways to get older.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I like I think I think recently, more recently, I think there's a lot for me about reflecting on being older does not mean I can't do X, Y, and Z.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so um that then has an impact on today, which is like health and what I eat and what I consume and all those pieces of the puzzle.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's there's like there's a whole bunch of stuff, right?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's like that's in the little bowl.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: And to answer your question, yeah, there are places in the world that I don't think I'd want to go.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them primarily because they're stance on um LGBTQ folk and trans folk.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, I live in a country now that's also creating a space where that's not safe.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: So the irony of it is, you know, I live in a country that civil rights are eroding and people are being um erased from history on websites and stuff, which is pretty scary stuff.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, so really I live in a country that's like that.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: So why would I not visit a country that so I think it's sort of um there's a lot right now that is swirling that I think excuse me, it's even even more important for Beth and I as well to create like it's not a bubble of safety, but and it's not being um naive to what's happening, but it's also a diet of not news all the time and not doom scrolling because that just gets you in a headspace.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: So it's I think for me it's been really about what are the key issues for me that are important to me, like related to young people, related to the queer community, related to women and immigration, those are probably the big pieces.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if I try to figure out all of the stuff, it's just too much, and that would not be working towards peaceful.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, exactly.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know, again, coming to seeking simplicity, there are some big things there about you know how what you consume that's not food, right?
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_03: What we see, who we hang out with, excuse me, the energies that we want to be around and take on.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_03: And like you say, it it can be quite a challenge to separate ourselves from that without being ignorant.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, if we're walking around feeling, you know, our frequency is low, our mood is low, our anxiety is high, our depression is high, then we're not actually any good to the to the consciousness of the planet anyway.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_03: So to kind of like doing that.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think I I am I definitely am putting on my spring equinox list today that I need to and want to um really clean up my diet around socials and and and what I consume.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's something that again, and perhaps another podcast.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to just because I like to trunk it is around about 30 minutes or so.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: But what I'm really curious about is that one of the things that you and Beth have talked a lot about, like you say, is where do we want to where what are our options as we get older?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I love what you sort of said about you know, getting older doesn't mean there are things that you can't do.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: And if I want to have this kind of lifestyle, how do I show up for that now?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's a really big and really good question.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you for sharing that.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I know that your your most recent trip was the biggest and longest trip that you've done.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: And I, you know, and and what you did at home to facilitate the freedom to go do that.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_03: Tell us a little bit about that that that three-month uh trip that you two have just taken.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we had planned, like like we love Thailand, so we've been there a number of like twice, three times.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: No, twice, twice.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so we wanted to go back to Thailand, but we wanted to go for a longer period of time.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then um we were also like, well, where else in that region could we think about?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so we ended up actually on a 14-day cruise from Mumbai, India, through uh different parts of India down to Sri Lanka.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, then I think we went to Thailand and then Malaysia, and then ended up in Singapore, and then from Singapore went to Paket, Thailand, and spent five weeks in Phaket.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then we met some friends in Bangkok.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: We were in Bangkok for almost 10 days, and then we went to Wahin, which is just outside of Bangkok, and then we flew to Hanoi, Vietnam, which we'd never been to before for the end part of our trip.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so we had planned that to have the majority of our time in Thailand because Thailand has been the place other than Zihuatanejo, Mexico, that we felt sort of the most comfortable in the space.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's it was it was different going back this time because we were there for longer.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so we started to be able to see what our routine might be like if we lived there.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um and as you alluded to, we did try out new gym health fitnessy type thing.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we went to a muy thai, the boxing gym and did what we thought was a 60-minute workout and it turned out to be 90 minutes, which ended with the coach using a pool noodle to whack us with, and we had to defend ourselves, which was quite fun.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but then we found this place called the cult of fitness, which was a place when we first went, we were like, there's no way we can do this, is like CrossFit Hide Hide Rocks, it's like looks too everyone's like much younger than we are, and then we're like we're fit, we can do this.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: We we do Orange Theory Fitness at home, we can do this.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a really amazing community, and that was a challenge that we took on, and that became part of our routine there in that space.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I think in Thailand, it's just people there it was called the land of smiles.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think there's um something to be said about being in a Buddhist country that hasn't been colonized by anyone, and so even though there's a lot of tourism and it's tourism is really big and there's lots of uh changes happening in community, I feel like there's a a grounding for the Thai people in like who they are and what's important to them, and so it's it I think those are the things that connecting to individual people that we met, excuse me, at the gym or at the little coffee shack that we went to, that was those are the moments where you're like, Oh yeah, I could live here.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_03: You know, because it's it it just as you're just saying that, it just reminds me like I've I've known you for quite a while now, and it you know, as you're talking, then it just it kind of honors all of your values, right?
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_03: You're you're great with people, you're you know, you're you the the food pictures you sent me are just incredible.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, so you you've got the food, you've got the people, you've got the culture, you've got the compassion, you've got the people being nice to each other, accepting each other, all of those things that are so important to you, it's no wonder that you, you know, you kind of love going there so much.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so we're gonna kind of wrap up, and I'm kind of probably gonna put you on the spot just a little bit with the final question.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_03: You've not put me on the spot.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that's but you we're good at that.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_03: We're good at working it out.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_03: But I guess I have I have gained so much knowledge and wisdom and growth from our relationship and from you coaching me, supporting me, stretching me, all the things over the over the years.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and if I could just impart one piece of wisdom that you've given me over the years, I'm not gonna share it, you're gonna share it because I don't know what you're gonna say.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_03: But in terms of, you know, you've got an element of wisdom because you're now in your wise woman era because you are your number begins with a six, right?
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: And um, which and I and I love that, and I've seen you change again over the last few years coming into this space of peacefulness and grounding, and this is who I am, which has been lovely to watch.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_03: But you've got so much wisdom and knowledge as a coach, as a as a mentor, as you know, just somebody who like stands out in your community.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_03: There are a lot of people out here and that will be listening to this podcast who are just struggling to keep their head above water, emotionally, physically, keeping up every day to day with things.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_03: If you could offer like one piece of advice in terms of helping them generate more simplicity in their life, could you just give us one little bit of wisdom?
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_03: Oh that's that's and you can you can say no, like I'm not I'm not sure.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: No, I just I I mean the first the first thing that came to mind is you have all the things you need to make the first step.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I love that.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_03: I love and that is so true, isn't it?
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think and and uh the next bit of that is it's not as bad as not doing it.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think um, first of all, thank you for the synchronicity there because somebody in book club said exactly that thing last night to the group.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I feel like it sort of feeds into that little bit of you know, outcome, outcome, outcome.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_03: And when we're our vision and our energy and our spirit is invested over there, we're detached, we're dissociated from the fact that we are here.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: So when we bring that closer to us, bring it back into our body and say, what's the one thing that I can do now?
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: What's the one thing that I do have control of that I can make a decision over?
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that is bringing it back to simplicity at its basis, with just one step after another, you know, one step after another.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I think just if I may add on to something along that line as well, it would be to bring ourselves back to what is it that's important to you?
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_03: You touched on that quite a lot today.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like what's important to me at this time in my life, in this season, and for my future.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_03: And I think sometimes we can get caught up in making decisions based on what society says or what we think other people want from us, or what's gonna make other people happy.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't often think we ask ourselves, well, what do I want?
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_03: What do I want now?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_03: What's gonna be best, what's gonna be the best thing for me to do for myself?
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_03: So maybe just adding that question on there.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_03: So keeping it simple, you are you have everything that you need already to take the first step.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_03: I really, really, and it's not as bad as like taking just staying where you are, right?
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_03: Because then nothing changes.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_03: So we could, as we know, talk forever and ever and amen, but we're not going to, we're gonna wrap it up, we'll get you back.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and um your insights.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um thanks for having me on.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_03: You are so very welcome, and let's catch up again very soon and talk food when I'm not fasting.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_03: That would be much.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that would be that would be a good idea.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, thank you, my darling.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_03: Bye.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_03: Bye.